New 1996 Grady White Islander 268 with twin 200 V6 Mercs

Paul_A · Sep 24, 2021

My boat had that same pushbutton breaker as the one next to your battery switch.

Be sure to check it, I ended up replacing mine. Was sticky.

Regarding your fuel tanks I can only tell you what I saw when I removed the then 25 year old tank out of my boat. The top had obvious pitting and a couple of pits were deep enough that the tip of a screwdriver went through easily.

But the sides and bottom were the real problem. Grady laid rubber strips between the tank and the false floor and had rubber strips on the sides and top where the raw wood was screwed into the stringers to create straps of sorts.

Take that board off the top of the rear tank. That's where you can get a quick look at what might be hiding underneath. If it were mine if I saw any deep pits on top I would pull and inspect the sides and bottoms. Last thing I ever want is my automatic bilge pump pumping raw gas when I'm 30 miles offshore.

greauxpete · Sep 24, 2021

Main fuel tank looks pretty clean:

greauxpete · Sep 24, 2021

Floor panel has delamination causing it to deflect in area at the yellow circle in picture. Thinking about investigating coring in this area and if wood is dry, just recoring the bad area or should I just recore the whole panel. Thoughts?

PointedRose · Sep 24, 2021

greauxpete said:
Floor panel has delamination causing it to deflect in area at the yellow circle in picture. Thinking about investigating coring in this area and if wood is dry, just recoring the bad area or should I just recore the whole panel. Thoughts?

An easy fix would be drilling some holes about every 3-4 inches just through the bottom skin to the core. Can use a bent nail or Allen wrench in a drill to remove some rotten core material. Then refill with penetrating epoxy and cover the drilled holes with epoxy. wouldnt have to take it all apart.

see ‘repair rotted core method 2’

Rot Repair in Glass Boats - The Rot Doctor

How to use epoxies to repair or replace transoms, floors, stringers and supports, engine bed mounts, wood-cored decks, delamination and other problem areas.

www.rotdoctor.com

greauxpete · Sep 26, 2021

Where is the toilet waste holding tank located?

Also where is the valve which needs to be opened to allow the waste to be pumped overboard?

ScottyCee · Sep 26, 2021

Have you downloaded the owners manual from gradywhite.com yet? That’s The first place I always go for answers to that kind of question.

Grady-White | Owners' Manuals

Download a free copy of your Grady-White owners' manual.

www.gradywhite.com

greauxpete · Sep 28, 2021

Thanks!
I found the valve in the manual, but nothing on the waste tank location?

greauxpete · Sep 28, 2021

Fuel deck panel cleaned up well:

greauxpete · Sep 30, 2021

Tore into the hatch.. the wood is mush.
I took as built dimensions of the hatch and stiffeners and will rebuild.

See pics of carnage:

greauxpete · Oct 2, 2021

Plywood Core and inner skin removed:

Hookup1 · Oct 2, 2021

I used 1/2" Coosa board for the core and West System epoxy. If you use plywood protect the core. Drill out the screw holes oversized from the underside, epoxy fill and re-drill. This photo is prior to encapsulating the coring. Coosa board lifted up, epoxy poured underneath, covered with glass and vacuum bagged.

If you do pull your fuel tanks let me know how the forward tank comes out. I'm planning on replacing mine. Not sure how difficult it will be to get the forward tank out.

greauxpete · Oct 2, 2021

Hookup..nice work.
I plan on cutting the plywood up in smaller pieces. (Not as small as the factory pieces though, probably 4 times larger).

I cleaned up all the wood remnants this morning, shes ready to fresh glass and bonding the plywood. See pics below..

I'm going to try to coat all sides of the plywood pieces and bed onto the panel with thickened epoxy in one shot. Do you think all have enough pot life? Or should I coat the plywood, let it cure, then bed with thicker epoxy. Seems like it would get a better bond when its all wet.
Thoughts?

Hookup1 · Oct 2, 2021

greauxpete said:
Hookup..nice work.
I plan on cutting the plywood up in smaller pieces. (Not as small as the factory pieces though, probably 4 times larger).

I cleaned up all the wood remnants this morning, shes ready to fresh glass and bonding the plywood. See pics below..

I'm going to try to coat all sides of the plywood pieces and bed onto the panel with thickened epoxy in one shot. Do you think all have enough pot life? Or should I coat the plywood, let it cure, then bed with thicker epoxy. Seems like it would get a better bond when its all wet.
Thoughts?

I would use West System 105 resin and 206 Slow hardener (its not that slow!). You may not be familiar with vacuum bagging but you can hack something together if you have a vacuum pump. All you need is 6 mill poly plastic and some gooey tape. Test beforehand. The vacuum bagging pulls everything together and gets the air out. its not that difficult and results in a significantly better part. You paint everything up with epoxy, assemble and turn on the pump. Just make sure you have some elevation on the hose (piece of Styrofoam) so you don't suck up the epoxy into the pump.

Epoxy is more expensive than polyester but is a better choice for a repair like this.

Let me know what you are doing with your fuel tanks. I'm close to replacing mine.

greauxpete · Oct 2, 2021

I'm probably going to let the tanks ride, they look pretty good.

I plan on cutting up the plywood into smaller sections as there is a slight bend in the plywood sheet. See pic below. Thoughts?

Hookup1 · Oct 2, 2021

I would do 6"x6" or 8"x8" squares and plenty of epoxy. Chopped glass underneath and woven glass fabric over the top. Leave 1/4" edge to tuck top layer in.

efx · Oct 2, 2021

Oh boy. Just looking at this thread scares me. I’ve redone three gradys and the islander was by far the toughest. I’ve had to stand on my head at times for hours. I’m not kidding. Keep going and plan it out well. Nice sketch. I think planning and doing things right the first time makes it manageable. Kind of. Let’s talk in 12 months. If you repower, stick with twins and watch the engine weight. And scuppers and hoses. Break out the hammer chisel sawzall heat gun rust remover grease wd40 and fiberglass in the forearms for weeks.

greauxpete · Oct 4, 2021

Marine plywood pieces sealed in west system epoxy resin:

ScottyCee · Oct 4, 2021

Use a single piece of foam. Super strong, super light. This one was done 18 months ago and pulled up last week.

greauxpete · Oct 4, 2021

ScottyCee,

What kind of foam is that?

family affair · Oct 4, 2021

efx said:
Oh boy. Just looking at this thread scares me. I’ve redone three gradys and the islander was by far the toughest. I’ve had to stand on my head at times for hours. I’m not kidding. Keep going and plan it out well.

I have experienced some of your pain. They packed a lot of features in the Islander, and the price is serviceability. I was starting to wonder if I was losing my skills or if the boat was just that tough to work on! Once everything is ironed out, I won't care, but there will be plenty of cussing till then!

New 1996 Grady White Islander 268 with twin 200 V6 Mercs

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